By Autumn Strode, EYT Champion
It is officially the 2025 bowling year, which means new experiences, accomplishments, and most importantly, new goals. The beginning of the year is so exciting, taking time to think of some of my new goals for the year, personal and bowling-related. These goals help provide a great motivator for me as I work at the things I want to get better at. The beginning of the year is the perfect time to set goals because it not only acts as a motivator, but it also gives you a way to measure success by the end of the year.
Looking back at my goals at the end of the year is a great way for me to measure my progress and decide what my next steps are in my bowling game.
To set goals for bowling, think about your strengths and weaknesses and what you would like to achieve. Thinking about my strengths and weaknesses, I may want to spend more time on targeting, but I might take that one step further and think about a specific area of the lane I would like to get better at playing. Think about what you would like to accomplish this year. Your goals should make you excited for the challenge and ready to work towards them.
Another great way to set goals is to think of your outer space goals. Outer space goals are goals that seem almost impossible, but they motivate you to work harder to achieve them. One of my outer space goals for 2025 is to make the top 10 at Jr. Gold. This is a huge outer space goal for me as there are a lot of girls who attend this competition, so it will be difficult, but it is a goal that will motivate me. The best goals are the goals that you are desperate to achieve, as they will work as the best motivators.
When setting goals, not only is it important to think about the goal itself but the steps you’re going to take to achieve it. Thinking about my Jr. Gold Outer Space goal, one of the things I have listed to help me achieve this goal is to practice many different types of lane play. At Jr. Gold, the patterns can and will force you out of your comfort zone, so it is important to be capable of playing any line the situation may call for. Making a plan of specific ways to go about reaching your goals is the best way to work for them and to give yourself the best chance of accomplishing them.
One other great motivator is to have a word of the year. Having a word for the year reminds you of your intentions and keeps you focused on what you want to achieve. For instance, this year, my word choice is “breakout.” My intention this year is to use all I learned last year to be competitive and win major tournaments. Everyone is somewhere different in their bowling journey, so everyone’s words and intentions will look different. It’s important to stay focused on your intentions when creating your word.
Use your goals and word of the year to push yourself to be the best version of yourself. Picture yourself reaching that goal you thought was impossible. Picking up the winning spare, grabbing the trophy, celebrating with my friends and family, and picturing all of these things, and the happiness it brings me is exactly what I work toward. Putting all of this into perspective, having one rough practice or tournament doesn’t seem such a huge price to pay, does it?
Comments